LSU gymnast Aleah Finnegan gets emotional in her traditional graduation gown with special thanks to her university

Modified May 09, 2025 14:59 GMT

Aleah Finnegan celebrated her graduation from Louisiana State University as part of the graduating class of 2025. Finnegan has had an impressive career representing the Tigers' gymnastics team, and has racked up numerous accolades in her time there. Finnegan wrapped up her last year for the Tigers by becoming an SEC Champion, an NCAA Regional Champion on balance beam, and becoming a Honda Sports Award finalist for 2025.

Finnegan became a finalist for the Honda Sports Award for the first time in her career, with the award going to the best female athlete in each of the 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. At the 2025 SEC Championships, she helped the Tigers win their sixth conference title and also won an individual title on beam. She was also pivotal for the Tigers as they cruised to a 2024-25 NCAA Championships regular season title win.

Finnegan took to Instagram to share an emotional goodbye to the Tigers as she rocked the traditional graduation cap and gown in a video. She wrote:

"Thank you, @lsu 💜,"

Aleah Finnegan revealed earlier that after completing her collegiate career, she would be competing next at the Southeast Asian Games in December.

Aleah Finnegan on how she handles performing in front of big crowds

Aleah Finnegan has revealed how she focuses on performing while in front of a big crowd. Finnegan has competed in both elite and collegiate gymnastics, and represented the Philippines at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She has had an extremely decorated collegiate career.

In a press conference for the LSU Tigers, Finnegan spoke about how she handles big crowds and performing in front of national television. She said:

"I think it's easy from the outside looking in, to kind of like "oh my gosh there's so many people in here and then we're on TV" and all that good stuff, but honestly whenever you're down there and in the moment, it's really just you and the team out there and you're just kind of blocking out everything else and what's important is what's right now. And you want to do so good for your teammates and so afterwards that's when the celebration comes, but in the moment, really don't notice it too much."

Aleah Finnegan chose to represent the Philippines due to her mother's heritage. On the international stage, Finnegan has had multiple impressive performances, including at the 2022 Southeast Asian Games where she won four medals.

About the author

Hi, I'm Harshvardhan and I have had a passion for sports writing from a very young age. I watch all sports but my favorites include football, cricket, and the NBA. I hope to contribute to sports journalism as much as I can and help readers get only the most reliable and accurate information!

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